Tag: Hockley Valley

Dog was happy to get some water
Weather was pretty crazy last week. There was a day with really intense winds. There were power outages and uprooted trees everywhere. Fortunately our property was spared from Mother Nature’s wrath.

We did this hike last weekend. It was quite apparent during the hike that a storm went through recently. There were several sections of trail blocked by fallen trees. It was a comfortable, cool day to hike. Toward the end of the hike, it was looking like rain was threatening so we tried to boogie it on out. It didn’t end up raining on us. Phew. It was a really hilly hike. My legs are sore but not dreadful. I think a soak in the hot tub helped.

Stanley Cup: Bruins are out. San Jose is out. Pittsburgh is out. As of now, Nashville looks like they will force a game seven. NBA: Raptors got clobbered by King James.

My wife has generously bought me a new laptop (that I’ve been coveting for months). Dude ‘yer getting a Dell! I wanted something that would age well, was easy to upgrade and had killer specs. I’ve always liked Lenovo but the only series I liked was the Y series and I think the 720 is garish and price wise, I think the 520 is overpriced. For similar money, I got a fairly loaded Dell 7577. Sure it is labeled as a “gaming laptop”, and it is, but the design is toned down considerably. And really, a “gaming laptop” is just a laptop with a high quality GPU. I’m pretty excited, as I haven’t bought new tech, let alone a new laptop, for years. Obviously more on this once it arrives. 😀

Childish
Sometimes a piece of art speaks for a moment in time. The video This is America by Childish Gambino certainly does this. It is a visual spectacle with a ton to take in. Many layers, many messages. Perhaps too many to absorb in a single viewing. Poignant and powerful. Perhaps another wake up call to a slumbering U.S.A.

Tanga in Hockley Valley
I haven’t seen my sister in a while so we arranged to meet them in Hockley Valley for a hike. We found some parking at the end of the Glen Cross Side Trail on 3rd Line just past 10th sideroad. The Caledon Bruce Trail club has a map available for the Glen Cross Hike here. It was a great hike. Very hilly, with sections running beside a stream. As the Caledon Bruce Trail club has pointed out, you can make this into a loop by following the main Bruce Trail. We continued to do the Cam Snell Side Trail loop as well. Unfortunately, we continued left when we should have continued right onto the main trail. So we hiking a little longer than intended. It is a lovely section though so, no worries. Our dogs were getting tired, however. It was a godo afternoon of hiking. The Hockley Valley sections of the Bruce Trail have certainly become some of our favourites. It was also good to see my sister and BiL.Curious orange mushrooms along the trail
The trails were mostly forested. Even though it was stupid hot, it wasn’t so bad in the shade.

Yesterday, we decided to do some more hiking! We drove to Georgetown to check out some of the Credit Valley Foot Path (which is a Bruce Trail side trail). We found parking on River Drive. There is a nondescript stone path (with no signage) on the same side of the road you can park on that leads down toward the river where you can access the trails. The trail follows along the Credit River. It was an average trail. There was something we suspected *may* be poison ivy along a good section of the trail. We didn’t end up getting any blisters, but we may have just been lucky. A few K-M in however the dog started, unexplainably limping so we decided to call the hike off. Bdot *sprinted* back to the car and I met her on Prince Street, after walking through the big houses on Barraclough. After resting for a bit, our dog seemed to be fine. *shrug* Since we were in the area, we treated ourselves to some incredible Allison’s corn. We also did a little loop of downtown Georgetown, since I’ve never checked it out. Looked to be a few interesting restaurants down there.

I was captivated by the run Canada’s Denis Shapovalov had at the Roger’s open. He fought hard against Zverev, who ended up beating legend Federer to win the Cup. It was a great story for Canadian tennis and bodes well for the future as Denis is only 18!

Did a significant update to the Hikes page. Originally I had all the hikes on one page…but it was getting way too long and awkward… so each hike now has its own page. I think makes more sense anyway.

Bruce Trail Hike
Bdot was away this weekend at her sister’s cottage. So, I ventured off to Hockley Valley for a hike. The intention was to get the missing photo for the Hockey Valley section of the 150 badge. The route is outlined here. It was a tiring hike for sure. Plenty of hills and streams. We will have to return because I didn’t find the bench on the route but the Isabel East Side Trail was pretty amazing.Lots of bridge/river combos

In the evening KK came over for a jam session. My amp as two independent plug-ins so we had guitar and drums. It was a fun night. We made some horrible noise and sent it off to MikeMike. *smirk*

We decided to go forward with the re-landscaping of the front yarn. This is very exciting! We are adding a small patio sitting area and river rock drainage path for the all the water from the back and house. It is both a functional and aesthetic update. Photos soon, so far it looks amazing.

Not sure what hit me Sunday morning, but awoke feeling really under the weather. Didn’t end up eating until after 6. Hmmpt.

Burned through the four short episodes of Netflix new anime series Castlevania. This is a stunningly animated series *for adults*… It has been renewed for a second season. The first four episodes setting the foundation for the series.

The Bruce Trail – Hockley Valley section just past where the Tom East Side Trail reconnects with the main trail.
We hike a lot in the area. So when Bdot sent me a link that would commemorate Canada’s 150th birthday and hiking in the area, I was all over it. So over the rest of the hiking season, we intend on trying to get the 150 badge! So far, however, we are off to a rather inauspicious start. The plan was to hike the Hockley Valley section for its badge requirements. It was a great day for hiking, sunny but cool. We made a few shopping stops in Orangeville then it was off to the trail. Getting to trailhead takes you along Hockley Road which is a curvy, busy road. While we were walking to the trailhead a jeep came whipping around a corner, crossed the white line and came pretty close to hitting us. The idiot driver was fscking around with a small loose dog on her lap. Some people don’t deserve to own animals. Sigh.
Once we were finally on the trail it was quiet and beautiful. We were making good progress until we hit a massive area of flooding (as shown above). I’ve never seen anything like it. It looked like a damn had burst, there was quick moving water for 30-40m. It was impassable. We tried to get around the flooding but there was no way we could see… the water went on as far as we could see down the trail. I’ve never had to turn around on a trail ever – that I can recall. So that was disappointing. We did get two of the three required photos, however. I messaged the Bruce Trail Club about it, but strangely, they didn’t acknowledge it. Hmmpt. So we’ll have to hike there again to get that last photo. No worries, it is a wonderful hike.

Gal Gadot with a great performance as Wonder Woman
Sunday we drove over to Newmarket to run some errands. The monthly Costco run, Bdot’s yarn… Afterwards, we finally went to see Wonder Woman. It was a wonderfully entertaining film. The banter between Pine and Gadot was quite captivating. There was plenty of action and the story was solid, with a nice chunk of background on Wonder Woman herself. I’m not surprised this has become the best-selling film ever directed by a woman (Patty Jenkins).

After some debate, we have decided to go forward with the front yard renovation. It has certainly been neglected since the backyard was done. With all the rain we are getting, we figuring the timing would be good for new plantings to establish themselves. So that is pretty exciting!

The NHL 2017 draft is over. Many thought the Sabres would pick all defensemen… but they wisely stuck with taking the ‘Best Player Available”. Their top pick was a promising American Centre named Casey Mittelstadt. He should see the
His bio:

An electric offensive presence on the ice, Casey Mittelstadt brings the complete package of speed, skill, and hockey sense. He competes hard with every shift, and has the dynamic puck skills to keep up with his creativity, which is a hallmark of his game. His awareness is all-encompassing, and he never puts his teammates in positions where their time and space will be bottlenecked. Bigger players don’t phase him, as he thinks the game analytically and will find chinks in the opposition’s armor on the fly. As a result, Mittelstadt is often seen forcing more complicated plays that the opposition won’t be able to read in time. On top of all this, he can play a north-south game, and his transition game is already at an elite level. He’s a complete player with the predatory instincts necessary to succeed as a consistent and, perhaps, dominant point producer at the next level.

The Steam Summer Sale is on! Glorious!

UPDATED!Voyager cast
Slowly over months I’ve been making my way through the Star Trek: Voyager series. It has certainly taken a while. It was an entertaining and insighful series. My favourite character was probably the Doctor, Robert Picardo was awesome. On to Deep Space Nine…

A beautiful beeless stream.
Finally a stat holiday with beautiful weather. So we decided to take full advantage of it and go for a hike. After some research we decided on going to the Bruce Trail section near Hockley Valley. Here is a link to a PDF of the trail area. There is a lot of parking along Hockley Road between 2nd and 3rd line. The hike was awesome. It is very hilly however. I was pretty exhausted by the end. Even the dogs were bagged. It was a perfect day except for one short stop. We stopped near a small river to let the dogs get a drink of water. B. was down by the water when suddenly she started screaming. Then I noticed down by the edge of the river… bees. Lots and lots of angry bees. Well…they had been disturbed and they were pissed. They came after B., me and the dogs. B. got the worst of it, I think she found 10 stings, Tanga got about 5, I found one and Cairo got 1. I think it could have been much, much worse. There were a lot more bees. In the past B. has had a very bad reaction to a bee sting so I was pretty worried and wanted to get back to the car ASAP after that. She (and the dogs) seem okay now but it was pretty intense for awhile. The little flying bastards got into pants, into socks and shoes (I have no idea how)… Brutal. After 15 or so minutes after we met the bees – and it was clear no one was having an adverse reaction – we were able to enjoy the rest of the walk. I think we hiked about 12km. We did a lot of the Bruce Trail in the Hockley Valley area and we took the Tom East Side Trail back. The Tom East Side Trail wasn’t as nice as the Bruce Trail. The body was pretty achy breaky when I got home. A soak in tub improved it somewhat. B. made a delicious pizza for dinner. Mmm. Watching Pretty in Pink. Molly is still adorable years later.

UPDATE!: Forgot to mention the great family dinner here on Sunday. B. made some incredibly tasty homemade burgers that disappeared in a hurry. It was good to see everyone, even my Dad who left without a word. In other news, congrats to my sister and JP on their new house. Hopefully it will become a home for many years into the future. 😀 And I think my ear has finally cleared…